Redistricting expands, reshapes Precinct 3

Hays County Precinct 3 looks different than it did a week ago.

The Hays County Commissioners Court approved the new maps following a long redistricting process that ended with a bit of controversy (see page 4 for more information). Commissioners Lon Shell, Mark Jones and Walt Smith approved the map that was submitted after the majority of public comment had been established. Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe and County Judge Ruben Becerra voted against the map.

The result is that Precinct 3 now runs from the south eastern tip of Hays County along I-35, includes significant areas of San Marcos and continues up the county’s western border until it reaches the northern tip including the Wimberley Valley, Henly and unincorporated areas near Dripping Springs as well as reaching areas along the city limits of Kyle.

“It looks different,” Shell said. “That is going to happen when you have a county that is growing like we did and a precinct that did not grow like the other precincts. It was inevitable. Precinct 3 had to take on more population. The question was where would that population come from.”

State law requires that counties are split into four precincts for Commissioners Court, which is different from the Justice of the Peace and Constable Precincts. Each precinct must be within 10% of the population of each of the others as well as following certain laws like the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Hays County was one of the fastest growing counties in the nation, no surprise to anyone visiting Dripping Springs, Kyle or San Marcos. But Wimberley did not grow at the same pace. To keep the population of Precinct 3 within 10% of the other districts, the boundaries had to widen.

The map the county selected was based on a version submitted by Shell. He stated that he wanted to keep communities of interest together as much as possible, while also grouping unincorporated areas into Precinct 3. Unincorporated areas receive different services from the county, such as road maintenance, than areas within city limits.

“It is not perfect,” Shell said of the map. “There are significant portions of San Marcos and even Kyle in Precinct 3, but a lot of it is still unincorporated.”

By expanding the limits even further beyond the Wimberley Valley than the previous precinct boundaries, there are some concerns locally that it diminishes the ability of Wimberley voters to have a say in who their representative is on the commissioners court. Shell said that he believes that Wimberley voters will still have a strong say even with the expanded boundaries.

“When you look at the voting of the Wimberley Valley and the turnout that you will still see, it has a very strong say in Precinct 3,” Shell said. “Even in the past the population of Precinct 3 was still in San Marcos, but it didn’t have the majority of voters, because the Wimberley Valley turnout is by percentage much higher than most of the rest of the county. I think in this map that the court approved the Wimberley Valley will still have a strong say in their representation in the type of services the county provides.”

There were a few minor changes to the precincts for the Justice of the Peace and Constables but nothing of note in the Wimberley Valley. Those precincts are not as limited by state and federal law and are more typically drawn to serve a specific geographic area.